What is the difference between the IELTS General and IELTS Academic exam?

In this tutorial you will learn:

• IELTS academic vs general – the specific differences between IELTS General Training and IELTS Academic tests in all 4 exam sections (Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking).

This will help you in your IELTS exam because you will:

• Learn the purposes of General Training and Academic IELTS exams.
• See real examples of what the two exam types tasks look like
• Learn how to prepare for the two test types and will get a useful list of resources and preparation tips to build your vocabulary and language skills.

Congratulations, you’ve just found out that you need to take the IELTS exam.

Wait, but there are TWO of them: IELTS General Training and IELTS Academic.

Which one do you actually need and why? And how different are they, if there are two?

We are going to explain all these in today’s tutorial. Believe me, it’s much easier when you can see the differences clearly. Whether you are in secondary education, in High School or already in college and preparing for further study at other academic institutions, this guide should be helpful to you. 

Now, the IELTS General Training exam evaluates your English proficiency in an everyday context. You will need this type of test for emigration or work in an English-speaking country, or even in the process of obtaining citizenship in certain countries, like Canada and New Zealand. The tests are available at the British Council and other partner organisations such as IDP. 

In other words, you are required to demonstrate that you can understand and handle daily life, leisure, employment and training-related texts. This is why the exam materials, such as reading passages, tasks in the IELTS writing test and listening excerpts from the IELTS listening test, will reflect mostly workplace and social situations.

On the other hand, IELTS Academic assesses whether your English level is appropriate for higher education in an academic environment. So, if you intend to go to school (college, university bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral programs) in an English-speaking country you will have to take IELTS Academic.

This exam tests your ability to survive the study loads, readings and methods in an English-language college or university. This is why the British Council and IDP test materials will be full of academic vocabulary and comprise a wide range of academic, and science-related topics. However research works in your institution, and writing conventions are broadly the same so if you have done IELTS, you will be able to write clear essays and analyses in English. 

Similarities between IELTS Academic and IELTS General

IELTS academic vs general -how are they similar?

Both IELTS Academic and General Training Tests

• Have four parts which come in this order: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking
• Last about 3 hours which are broken down by exam section as follows

Listening

• 40 questions
• 40 minutes

Reading

• 40 questions
• 60 minutes

Writing

• 2 writing tasks (one shorter and one longer)
• 60 minutes

Speaking

• 3 sections
• 10-15 minutes

• Have NO DIFFERENCE in Listening and Speaking. Yes, this means that the Listening and Speaking test sections in IELTS General Training and Academic tests are absolutely THE SAME and so you can use the same preparation tips. Students tend to ask about this again and again and get confused about where to find specialised practice material. Yes, they are the same. We promise! Isn’t that a relief?!
• Can be taken in two formats: paper-based and computer-based.

Differences between IELTS Academic and IELTS General

Now, it’s obvious that the differences between academic and general can be found in only the Reading and the Writing sections.

Differences between the IELTS Reading Sections in IELTS General Training vs Academic

The two types of Reading tests are mainly different in reading passage numbers and topics; there’s also a very slight difference in question types but is tiny. The exam fees are the same for both tests.

Differences in Reading Passage NUMBERS

In the IELTS Academic Reading test, the number of reading passages in each section is the same for the academic exam as for the general training tests.

• Section 1: one shorter article (may seem easier than the other two)
• Section 2: one longer article
• Section 3: one longer article

In the IELTS General Training Reading test, the number of reading passages varies in each section.

• Section 1: up to 3 short texts
• Section 2: 2 texts
• Section 3: one long text

Differences in Reading Passage TOPICS

In IELTS Academic Reading:

All texts are on topics of general interest but closely related to a variety of academic subjects or topics such as:

• Plant/animal/human biology
• Chemistry, physics
• Astronomy, space exploration
• Mathematics, computer science
• Medicine
• Inventors and inventions
• History, anthropology
• Psychology, sociology
• Culture and civilization
• Education
• Arts: painting, sculpture, architecture, music, crafts
• Language and linguistics
• Environment conservation
• Law
• Business, economics, marketing, management, etc.

In IELTS General Training Reading:

• Section 1: Up to 3 texts related to everyday life (travel leaflets, college brochures, accommodation lists, safety procedures, classified ads, newsletters, advertisements, noticeboards, etc.)
• Section 2: 2 texts related to work or professional training (job descriptions, work policies, guidelines, manuals, etc.)
• Section 3: one long text of general interest (newspaper/magazine articles, book extracts or internet texts on the environment, civilization, business, culture, history, people, transport, etc.)

Differences in Reading QUESTION TYPES

There are 15 types of questions are used in both the IELTS Academic and the General tests. There is only ONE additional type added to the Academic test (see the lists below).

1. Sentence completion
2. Sentence completion with a box
3. Short answer questions
4. Notes / table / flow chart completion
5. Matching
6. Classification
7. Labelling a diagram
8. Paragraph headings
9. Finding information in paragraphs
10. Summary completion
11. Summary completion with a box
12. True / False / Not Given
13. Yes / No / Not Given
14. Multiple choice
15. Pick from a list
16. Global multiple-choice – ONLY IN the IELTS ACADEMIC TEST

Using an IELTS indicator (a timed online IELTS test ) before you start spending money on exam fees is a great idea because an IELTS indicator will give you fast feedback and an accurate score for reading and listening so you can work out how you are progressing and identify any problem areas.

Yet, some of the major differences between the two exam types are found in the Writing section of the examination. Let’s see what they are.

First, there are of course similarities.

In both IELTS General Training and Academic there are TWO writing tasks, and BOTH must be completed.

The conditions listed below are the same for both exams.

• Time Given: 60 minutes
• Tasks: 2
• Marking: Task 1 = ~33% of the entire Writing score, Task 2 = ~66% of the entire Writing score.

In both General Training and Academic Writing tests you will have to write your answers using complete sentences, and not incomplete notes or bulleted lists. You will have to write your answers on the answer sheet provided, and not on a blank sheet of paper, using a pencil or pen. You will be allowed to write brainstorming notes on the question paper, but these will not be assessed by the writing examiner.

IELTS Academic Writing

In Task 1, you will have to describe a visual in your own words. This visual may be either a line graph, pie chart, table, diagram or map. You will need to write no less than 150 words and, preferably, no more than 250 words in about 20 minutes.

In Task 2, you will have to write an essay based on a task on a topic related to an academic issue that will include a point of view, argument or problem which you will need to discuss. You will have to write no less than 250 words and, preferably, no more than 350 words in about 40 minutes.

In Task 1, you will need to write a formal or informal letter, for example, asking for information or explaining a situation. You will need to write no less than 150 words and, preferably, no more than 250 words in about 20 minutes.

In Task 2, you will have to write an essay based on a task on a topic of general interest that will include a point of view, argument or problem which you will need to discuss. You will have to write no less than 250 words and, preferably, no more than 350 words in about 40 minutes.

IELTS General & Academic Writing Task Samples

Here are some task samples for Writing tasks for IELTS General Training and Academic.

Task 1 General Training

Task 1 Academic

You live in a room in college which you share with another student. However, there are many problems with this arrangement and you find it very difficult to work.

Write a letter to the accommodation officer at the college. In the letter,

• describe the situation
• explain your problems and why it is difficult to work
• say what kind of student accommodation you would prefer

The chart below shows the number of men and women in further education in Britain in three periods and whether they were studying full-time or part-time.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Task 2 General Training

Task 2 Academic

Example 1: In Britain, when someone gets old, they often go to live in a home with other old people where there are nurses to look after them. Sometimes the government has to pay for this care.

Who do you think should pay for this care, the government or the family?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Example 2: The first car appeared on British roads in 1888. By the year 2000, there may be as many as 29 million vehicles on British roads.

Alternative forms of transport should be encouraged and international laws introduced to control car ownership and use.

When you write your responses, you need to keep in mind that you will be assessed and marked based on the following criteria:

• Task achievement: how correctly and appropriately your answer covers the task requirements, using a minimum of 150 words for Task 1 and 250 words for Task 2. In Task 1, all the information you require is given in the diagram. You must not add any information o your own. In Task 2, Task your answer should include how well you develop your argument in response to the task, providing evidence and supporting examples.
• Coherence and cohesion: how easy to understand and fluent your writing is, and how you organise the flow of your ideas and supporting facts. This refers to arranging your ideas in a logical order and using well a variety of linking words (for example, connectors, pronouns and conjunctions, etc.).
• Lexical resource: this is about the variety of the words you have used, and how correct and appropriate your vocabulary use is.
• Grammatical range and accuracy: this is about the range of grammatical forms you have used in your writing and how correctly you have used them.

STUDY RESOURCES FOR VOCABULARY BUILDING

One of the main strengths of any IELTS test taker, either General Training or Academic is, of course, a rich vocabulary.

The following recommendations will be useful for both exam types test-takers, and for both Reading and Writing. They will also be of use in the speaking section where your level of English language is judged to be higher if you can confidently use less common words and phrases fluently.

In the case of Reading, you will have to be able to recognize and interpret vocabulary correctly, while in the Writing section, you will have to use a good range of appropriate, topical vocabulary in order to get the score you dream of.

We already mentioned that in the IELTS Academic test you will have to read texts on topics of general interest but from various academic subjects or topics. Yet, the IELTS General Training test will also showcase similar, complex vocabulary-loaded vocabulary articles, especially in Sections 2 and 3.

Such reading passages may come in the form of authentic articles from newspapers, books, textbooks, magazines, or journals.

The topics in these articles are many but not infinite. Remember this list and make sure that you practice reading texts in English on these topics.

• Plant/animal/human biology
• Chemistry, physics
• Astronomy, space exploration
• Mathematics, computer science
• Inventors and inventions
• History, anthropology
• Psychology, sociology
• Culture and civilisation
• Education
• Arts: painting, sculpture, architecture, music, crafts
• Language and linguistics
• Environment conservation
• Business, economics, marketing, management
• Medicine
• Law

You can find articles on these for your practice in a variety of online sources:

Don’t forget that extensive reading and processing (collecting synonyms and explanations for new words) of new vocabulary directly contributes to the enrichment of your Writing vocabulary. So make sure you read extensively a variety of articles on all sorts of topics of general and academic interest.

Remember, all these recommendations are equally useful for improving Writing, Reading and even Listening, for both IELTS General Training and Academic test takers!

Also, there are certain academic words that will frequently appear in many academic subjects and articles on them. If you understand these words, it will be considerably easier for you to handle the IELTS Reading test.

However, such academic word lists do not contain special technical words which are characteristic to a given field of science or general, high-frequency words.

Word Lists and Resources

Here are some sample academic word lists with additional explanations or exercises that will be helpful for you, no matter whether you intend to improve your Reading or Writing.

And of course, check out the resources we have on our IELTS Podcast website about vocabulary learning and improvement:

Feel free to explore these to get a full understanding of the Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening IELTS test sections, test sample tasks and answers to them!

To receive expert feedback and improve your IELTS band score fast, take a look at our IELTS online course!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Which one is easier? IELTS General vs Academic?

The answer really depends on the test-taker because some people find certain things easier than others.

However, many IELTS students find IELTS general easier because each question tends to be more generic than specific and the scoring format is different from IELTS academic.

You can download or listen to the audio version here:

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